


The Dancer.

by steeleye



Series: The Life of Zoe Smith. [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-30
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-21 21:06:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/904931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steeleye/pseuds/steeleye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Acting solely on instinct, Zoe sprinted towards the man on silent feet; body checking him she knocked him to the ground. His weapon flew from his hands as he fell to the ground with Zoe on top of him. The rifle clattered across the tarmac as Zoe found her feet and grabbed the gangster by the collar of his jacket. Surprising herself and the hitman with her strength, she hauled him to his feet so she could knock him down again with a well aimed blow to the head...'</p><p>On a planet where Earth is just a legend, a young woman dreams of being someone better than she is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dancer.

The Dancer.

By Steeleye.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything in this story that you might recognise as coming from either a TV show or movie.

 **Crossover:** Some ideas were taken from the TV show 'Boomtown'.

 **Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar:** Written in glorious English-English which is different to American-English.

 **Timeline:** First in the 'Zoe Smith' series of stories.

 **Words:** 10,000 plus words.

 **Warnings:** The story contains nothing that you wouldn't expect to see on a TV cop show.

 **Summary:** 'Acting solely on instinct, Zoe sprinted towards the man on silent feet; body checking him she knocked him to the ground. His weapon flew from his hands as he fell to the ground with Zoe on top of him. The rifle clattered across the tarmac as Zoe found her feet and grabbed the gangster by the collar of his jacket. Surprising herself and the hitman with her strength, she hauled him to his feet so she could knock him down again with a well aimed blow to the head...'

On a planet where Earth is just a legend, a young woman dreams of being someone better than she is.

0=0=0=0

Walking out onto the bridge, Zoe tried to ignored the early morning traffic that rumbled by on the road behind her. Leaning her elbows on the balustrade, she sipped her first coffee of the day and stared down at the river below.

“Another freaking, sunny, Oldport day,” she told herself quietly.

Sensing someone walk up behind her and stand next to her, Zoe glanced up and nodded a greeting to the old guy who stopped and leaned against the concrete barrier beside her.

“Hi Pop,” Zoe took another slow sip of her coffee before going back to her contemplation of the river below.

“Not quite the Red River is it?” Pop asked, “Not really a river anymore.”

Zoe shrugged but otherwise kept her own counsel.

“Used to flood like a son-of-a-bitch back when I was a boy,” Pop looked down at the water that covered about half of the concrete river bed below them, he sighed sadly as he remembered his youth, “They paved it all over back in the fifties.”

Looking at the sorry excuse for a river below her, Zoe wondered where Pop was going with this; Pop was one of her few real friends in the city, and she wasn’t about to alienate him by snapping at him to get to the point. Maybe, she shrugged once again, maybe he didn’t have a point; perhaps he was just making conversation because he knew they both needed the company.

“Landing’s got the Ames,” Pop continued, “Sierra's got the Pada, Farfaraway’s got the Greyway,” Pop named several famous cities and the rivers they'd been built on before giving a quiet chuckle, “Oldport’s got a concrete drainage ditch…it’s all we got, it’ll have to do.”

“Yeah,” Zoe agreed quietly, “it’s like my life,” Zoe sipped her coffee and smiled ruefully, “full o’ crap an’ goin’ nowhere.”

“What’re you talkin’ about girl?” Pop turned to look at Zoe over the tops of his glasses.

“Don’t know Pop,” Zoe drained her coffee cup before dropping it over the side of the bridge to watch it drift lazily towards the water; she saw it bob in the dirty water as it was carried away by the current, it was a little like her really, lost in the stream of life.

“You’re too good for this place, Zoe,” Pop went back to watching the river, “Oldport’s no place for a pretty girl like you.”

Pop was right of course, as each day passed, Zoe had grown to dislike Oldport just a little bit more. There was something about the city that made her brain itch and then there were the people, if she died right that minute only about three people in the entire world would notice; Pop and Sam, the clerk at the apartments who took her weekly rent and maybe Steve, her sometimes boyfriend.

The city of Oldport was probably one of the oldest cities on the planet, from her fragmentary memories of school history lessons, Zoe knew that Oldport had existed long before 'The Event', which made it over five-hundred years old. The city had been built on the western coast of the World Continent and was overlooked to the east by the Spine Mountains. During the chaotic times after The Event it had been the capital of Nuefornia, but it had been peacefully absorbed by the Alliance sixty or seventy years ago. Now it was just a big, sprawling, heavily industrialised seaport with a population of around three million, of which Zoe was only one.

“Hey,” Zoe forced a smile as she looked at the old man, “goin’ for a new job today.”

“Waitressing?” Pop asked.

“Yeah,” Zoe admitted with a shrug and a resigned look.

Zoe was a pretty young woman with a good figure and no real education. Yes, she'd learnt to read, write and do simple arithmetic, she wasn't stupid by a long way. But she didn't have the education that would have got her a good job when she'd moved from her home town of Riverdale to Oldport two years previously. The only job that she'd found she was qualified for was as a stripper in the many night-clubs in the part of Oldport where she lived. Although the money was good, Zoe always had this feeling that she could do better than just taking her clothes off for a living.

“You look out for y’self, Zoe,” Pop pushed himself away from the balustrade, “like I say you’re a pretty girl and there’s some people out there who might try and take advantage of that fact.”

“There are?” Zoe replied with wide-eyed innocence, she grinned and placed her hand on Pop’s arm reassuringly, “Don’t worry Pop I’m a big girl, I can look after myself.”

“It’s bein’ a ‘big girl’ that makes me worry about you,” Pop explained before shaking his head in sorrow, “If only I was thirty years younger,” Pop laughed, “Feck! If only I was ten years younger I’d look out for you.”

“Hey,” Zoe smiled, “I keep tellin’ ya I don’t need anyone to look out for me…”

“I know, I know,” Pop nodded his head and laughed, “but, it’d be fun trying!”

“Yeah,” Zoe smiled and wondered what it would be like to have someone to look out for her; she’d always looked out for herself; but maybe one day, “Look, Pop, I’ve gotta go…don’t wanna be late for my job interview.”

“Good luck, Zoe,” Pop called as he watched Zoe walk away, “mind you come back and tell me how it went.”

“Will do,” Zoe called as she waved over her shoulder and walked off leaving Pop standing alone on the bridge.

“Damn fine piece of arse,” Pop muttered to himself as he watched Zoe’s rear getting further and further out of reach, “The heck with being ten years younger,” he laughed quietly to himself, “five would do!” Smiling, Pop shook his head, whatever his fantasies about Zoe, she was out of his reach both literally and figuratively, he sighed sadly, “Luck Zoe.”

0=0=0=0

So, Zoe asked herself as she walked the streets of this run-down part of Oldport, if she hated it here so much, why was she still living here? The simple truth was, she had nowhere else to go. Before coming to the city, Zoe had lived in Riverdale with her mother, she couldn't remember ever having a father, just a long succession of her mother's 'boyfriends'. Some of these 'boyfriends' had been nice, others were far too interested in the pretty, little, dark haired girl that Zoe had been back then.

Eventually one of her mother's boyfriends had turned out to be a complete psycho, he'd killed her mother and tried to rape Zoe after which he'd would have probably killed her. Luckily for Zoe and unluckily for her mother's ex-boyfriend, Zoe had caved in his skull with a frying pan. The local sheriff had said it was self-defence, but that still left Zoe a sixteen year old orphan with no money and when the rent ran out on her mother's apartment, nowhere to live. Not wanting to be put in a home, she'd heard about the stuff that happened to teenage girls in care homes, she'd run away to Oldport. In the big city she could lose herself and no one would ask her where she'd come from and what she was doing there. Only having a little money to see her through, Zoe got a one room apartment in a small complex and began to looking for a job. Quickly finding that no one wanted to employ sixteen year old girls, at least not for any sort of work she was willing to do, Zoe found herself getting more and more desperate as her money quickly ran out.

It was then that she hit on the idea of lying about her age and getting a job as a dancer in a night club. Having always enjoyed dancing and looking older than she was, Zoe soon found work. Actually she found work at several clubs doing a shift at one before moving on to to do a couple of shifts at another. The best that could be said about working as a stripper was there was always a demand for pretty girls to take their clothes off to music, she'd never be out of work.

0=0=0=0

Looking up at the front of the club, Zoe read the neon signs, switched off they looked pathetic in the bright but hazy, Oldport sunshine. *GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!* the big one read, *None Stop Pole Dancing!* read another. Yet another, almost as big as the first, simply read, *STRIPPERS!*.

“Oh crap,” Zoe sighed; it looked like this wasn’t a normal waitressing job.

Not knowing why she felt so disappointed, Zoe had seen any number of joints like this before, she’d even tried to get jobs in a few of them. But, they’d always wanted her to do stuff that she’d not felt comfortable with.

“Whatever,” Zoe shrugged and marched on in through the open door. As soon as she got in off the street the light level dropped dramatically.

Walking further into the club, Zoe could smell the stale sweat, tobacco, alcohol and despair. Even at this early hour of the morning the joint was open. An unenthusiastic stripper danced on a stage illuminated by a red spotlight, while a couple of topless waitresses walked slowly between the tables taking drinks to the half dozen men and women in the audience. Okay, Zoe told herself, topless waitressing, she could do; if there was nothing else. After all she had nothing to be ashamed of, she had breasts a lot of women would kill for and she wasn’t shy about showing them off. 

“Hey honey,” a male voice called from behind her, “can I help you?”

“Nah,” Zoe turned and found herself facing a tall, well dressed guy in his mid-thirties, “I was looking for a job but then…” Zoe gestured to one of the waitresses who was dressed up as some sort of demon.

“Oh!” the tall guy smiled pleasantly enough, “I’m Nick, I own this joint, you say you’re looking for a job?” Zoe nodded, “Come and have a drink and we’ll see what I can offer you.”

“Okay,” Zoe moved towards a table and sat down; sure ‘Nick’ was checking her out, she’d grown to expect that, men (and women) were always telling her she was hot, usually just before they tried to screw her.

“So you want a job waitressing?” Nick asked as he signalled to the barkeep to bring them some drinks.

“Yeah,” Zoe shrugged non-committally, “but…” she didn’t know how to say it without upsetting the guy, after all he’d been pleasant enough to her and he didn’t look too sleazy, “…but look, I don’t mind the topless thing but…” she gestured to the girl with the tail and little horns who’d brought the drinks over, “…the other stuff is y’know too weird for me.”

As the waitress placed Zoe’s drink in front of her, she smiled exposing sharp white teeth that looked just a little too long to be real and for a moment Zoe could have sworn that the girl’s eyes had glowed red.

“Look it's okay,” Nick sipped his drink as he looked at Zoe intently, “not all our girls dress up.”

“Yeah I get that now,” Zoe sipped her drink which was pleasantly refreshing, it tasted of fruit and as far as she could tell didn’t contain any alcohol.

“The Demon Fire Club,” Nick explained, “is a kinda themed place…”

“Themed?” Zoe queried, yeah she supposed it was if your idea of a theme was a monster dimension, it was just about then that she noticed most of everything in the place was red of one shade or another.

“Yeah,” Nick smiled exposing white, perfect looking teeth, “we get a lot of customers from TV and movie studios, y’know the guys who do the special effects on monster shows?”

“Oh yeah,” Zoe nodded her head, put like that it maybe didn’t sound so weird after all, “I get it.”

“Can you dance?” Nick asked out of the blue.

“Dance?” Zoe frowned for a second, “Yeah sure I can dance.”

“Well,” Nick smiled disarmingly, “I was thinking a pretty girl like you’d be wasted as a waitress…how’d you like to work as one of our dancers? I’m always on the look out for new talent.”

“Hey, look man,” Zoe really wanted to get away from dancing, “I don’t know…”

“Sure, look,” Nick looked at her sympathetically, “I know what you’re thinking and I don’t blame you. If I were you I wouldn’t just take my clothes off for any guy who offered me a job as a stripper,” Nick sipped his drink and sat back in his chair, “Don’t decide now, talk to some of the girls if you like, they’ll tell you I’m on the up and up.”

“I don’t think…” Zoe so wanted to get up and walk out but something was holding her in her seat, it was called 'desperation'.

“We pay well,” Nick pointed out enticingly, “and you don’t have to share your tips with anyone, you could easily earn fifteen-hundred maybe two-thousand Crowns a week.”

Two thousand crowns a week did sound tempting and a lot more than she was earning now, Zoe had to stop herself from saying yes there and then.

“Look, man,” with a great effort of will Zoe stood up, “I gotta go, I’ll think about it an' call ya, okay?”

Forcing herself to turn and put one foot in front of the other, Zoe made straight for the door and the hazy, Oldport sunshine.

0=0=0=0

Standing on the sidewalk outside the strip club in the hot, sticky air, Zoe wondered what she was going to do for the rest of the day. Turning to her right she started to walk, glancing at her watch she saw that it was just after eleven. This was one of her problems, how to fill her day until it was time to go to the club she'd be working at that night; she could stay in bed all day but that wasn’t really her, she just got restless and soon found herself walking the streets again. Letting her feet take her where they would, Zoe found herself at the local mall. Standing at the entrance she wondered why she was here. With a sigh she headed towards the food court, perhaps Pop would be there, at least then she’d have someone to talk to.

0=0=0=0

It was now late evening and Zoe was just thinking about going for a beer after going to see a movie. There was a multiplex in the mall so she’d not even have to leave the building. The movie had been some low budget monster flick that had been unintentionally funny rather than scary. Walking out of the mall back onto the street, Zoe smiled as she remembered the movie, she seemed to like that type of show even if the plots were incredibly cheesy. Looking up, Zoe found she'd walked into a dimly lit alley. How the heck had she wandered down here? Stopping she turned to look around and tried to regain her bearings. Instead of seeing the lights of a main road, she saw nothing but the back of an old warehouse.

“What the fuck?” Zoe asked herself when she recognised nothing.

Although the alley was ill-lit this didn’t bother her so much because she'd always been able to see perfectly well in the dark. She could also smell and hear perfectly well too, which just at the moment she wasn’t too sure whether that was a good thing or not. Like all alleys everywhere this one stank of urine, there was also the sound of small skittering feet that she hoped were just rats.

“Damn-it-all,” Zoe muttered as she considered whether to try and retrace her steps or keep going.

Quickly realising that one way was as good as another, Zoe walked on hoping to find an exit and a main road, while telling herself that she really needed to look where she was walking in future. Not having gone more than a few yards, she heard footsteps behind her. Stopping suddenly, she turned to confront whoever was behind her, she didn’t appreciate being followed down dark, stinking alleys in the middle of the night. Bringing her fists up ready to defend herself against any rapist or pervert who got their jollies from scaring the crap out of girls in dark alleys, Zoe found herself looking at nothing. No rapist or monster stood behind her caught in the act of sneaking up on her; for a moment she wondered why she’d thought ‘monster’? Monsters didn’t exist, Zoe told herself other than human monsters who were just freaks. Relaxing a little and telling herself that the sound she’d heard was probably a stray dog of something, she turned back to continue the way she’d been heading and screamed. 

There, only inches from her face, stood a guy with the tell-tale distorted face of a Crystal addict. Her heart quickly stopped trying to climb out of her mouth as her breathing settled down into a more natural rhythm. For a moment she took in the guy's face with its lumpy forehead, yellow eyes, pale skin and long sharp looking teeth; she tried not to throw up at the smell of the addict's rancid breath and body odour

“Hey!” Zoe demanded, “What is it with people ‘round here?” Zoe took a step away from the freak, only to have him take a step to close the distance between them. “Like scaring girls’ coz you’ve only got a short dick or something, is that how ya get ya kicks?”

“Run,” ordered the addict.

“Get outta here!” Zoe replied as she pushed passed the loser with the monster's face and continued her walk along the alley.

Not having taken more than a couple of steps, Zoe felt a hand on her shoulder. The guy had grabbed her and was trying to spin her around to face him again. Instead he got his wrist grabbed and his arm twisted against the joint. Finally he found himself being thrown at the dumpsters that lined the wall in this part of the alley.

“Get outta here before I kick your donkey, man!” Zoe warned, she was stronger than most women and weird guys in alleys didn’t really scare her as much as perhaps they should.

What did scare her, at least a little bit was the way the guy got up off the ground and attacked her as if he hadn’t just connected with the dumpster while using his face as an air-bag. The guy snarled as he leapt across the alley at her, she met him with a punch to the throat, a killing blow. The guy should have fallen to the filthy surface of the alley and choked to death, but he didn’t. Yeah he went down, for about two seconds! But, then he was back on his feet trying to grab her and bite her on the neck and arms.

Zoe’s small, hard fists struck at the man’s body like pistons and she started to lose count of the number of times she knocked him off his feet. But the addict seemed to soak up punishment like he was being hit by a kitten or something. Zoe had heard about this type of thing on the TV news. The thug must have been high on Crystals and she could beat on him all night and he wouldn’t feel a thing until he came down off his high. But what was she to do until then? Thoughts passed rapidly through Zoe’s mind one after another. The guy seemed determined to do something bad to her, would the police care if she took one more freak off the streets? All these thoughts went through Zoe’s mind in a flash, in reality they hardly registered as conscious thought. Acting instinctively she lashed out with her feet and hands. This freak was going down and if she had to kill him; well, that was just his bad luck, he shouldn’t attack girls in dark alleys.

Feeling herself on what she thought must be some kind of ‘combat high’, Zoe stood over the broken and bleeding body of her would-be rapist. Even though she’d felt bones break under her feet, even though she must have ruptured all the freak’s internal organs, even though he lay on the ground with his left leg pointing the wrong way, the bastard still hadn’t lost consciousness. In fact he didn’t even seem to be breathing heavily, neither was Zoe but at least she was breathing just a little hard.

“Whore!” slurred the freak-rapist through bloody lips as he gazed up at Zoe.

“What!?” Zoe yelled as she raised her right leg to deliver one final side kick, “Asshole!” she struck, hitting her victim on the side of the head fracturing his skull, finally his eyes closed.

Turning on her heel and figuratively dusting off her hands as she headed on down the alley, Zoe congratulated herself on making the streets of Oldport a little safer for women at night.

0=0=0=0

**The Oasis Apartments, the following morning.**

As it turned out, Zoe got lucky after her run in with the addict-rapist; she’d quickly worked out where she was once she’d got back on the main road. Taking a bus, she’d ridden it the couple of blocks to the bar she used near the apartments where she lived. Walking into the half deserted bar she saw Steve sitting on a stool at the bar.

Steve was a cop, a detective no less, and the closest thing Zoe had to a boyfriend. Although Zoe craved, love, affection and had a great need to be liked and wanted, she always kept people at arms length for fear of getting emotionally hurt. This was all very confusing to Zoe and it made her miserable at times because she didn’t know or understand why she was like she was. Having met Steve outside his apartment about a year ago they’d quickly become friends. Then, very soon afterwards, they’d become friends who occasionally spent the night together.

After a fight, which Zoe was the first to admit she did seem to get involved in a lot, or at least more than could be considered normal for an attractive, young woman, she found she craved sexual release and Steve was good…very good at giving her that release. Now as she lay in his bed and stretched like a cat she watched him dress in the light coming in through the still drawn curtains. Searching in the pocket of his jacket, Steve pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one.

“You smoke?” Zoe sat up exposing her breasts as the sheet fell away from her body, “I didn’t think anyone smoked nowadays, ‘specially out here on the coast.”

“You want one?” Steve held out the pack to her.

“Nah,” Zoe shook her head, “so, tell be why do you still smoke?”

“It’s a story,” Steve explained his face splitting into a grin.

“What?” Zoe laughed; Steve liked to tell stories; sometimes they were about when he’d been in the army, other times they were just stories that made her laugh or sometimes cry.

“If you want to know why I smoke,” Steve sat down on the edge of the bed and took hold of Zoe’s small hand in his big one, “it’s gonna to be a story.”

“Okay,” Zoe smiled and lay back on the pillows but didn’t pull the sheet up to cover her breasts, “tell me why ya smoke.”

“Right,” Steve’ eyes went unfocused for a moment as he thought back to… “it was during the Unification War, me and my friend Freaktown were sent out into the desert to check on a crashed A17.” Steve paused for a moment as he drew on his cigarette and thought back to that hot day long ago, “The A17 had been shot down weeks ago, the pilot had ejected and been picked up. We’d just been sent to check out the crash site and see if there was anything recoverable.”

“So, we found the crash, and got down from our At-vee and were looking around the debris field,” Steve got up, walked over to the table under the window and crushed out his cigarette in an ash tray. “I’m just walking about checking things out when I saw something shiny in the sand, I bent to pick it up an' Freaktown got shot!”

“No way!” Zoe breathed quietly.

“You see what we didn’t know was that about a mile away was a People's Guard sniper who’d been waiting for days for someone to check out that crash site.” Steve shook his head sadly. “What'd happened was he’d aimed at my head and fired, now the bullet was in the air for maybe three or four seconds, enough time for me to say ‘oh, shiny object’ and bend down and pick it up.”

“So your friend Freaktown was killed instead of you?” Zoe asked slowly, “That’s harsh man.”

“No,” Steve smiled and shook his head, “see Freaktown was about your height,” Steve was a good eight inches taller than Zoe, “the bullet caught him in the top of the helmet, parted my man’s hair and knocked him off his feet, other than having the crap scared outta him he was fine!”

“No way?” Zoe cried, relieved that the story had a happy ending.

“Yes way,” Steve agreed with a nod, “after that I thought ‘what’s so bad about smoking’?”

“Hey, good story man,” Zoe swung her legs out of bed and started to search for her clothes. “y’know ya sound like a man with a list.”

“A list?” Steve went back to getting himself ready for work.

“Yeah y’know,” Zoe found her panties and pulled them on, “one of those lists of things ya wanna do before ya die…climb a mountain, screw a stripper,” she laughed, “crap like that.”

“Yeah,” Steve held up a much folded and refolded piece of paper, but before he could explain further his comms unit started to buzz, picking it up he read the message off the screen, “Sorry Zoe I’ve gotta go, work y’know?”

“Yeah all right, I get it,” Zoe tried not to feel or sound disappointed, but it would have been nice to have had breakfast together, “I’ll clear the place up before I go, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Steve clipped his gun to his belt and headed for the door.

“See you tonight?” Zoe asked a little more hopefully than she’d intended.

“Yeah, baby, maybe…” Steve called back as he headed out the door leaving Zoe alone again.

0=0=0=0

“You look happy,” Steve’s partner, Eddy, called as he saw his buddy walk towards their car.

“Spent the night with Zoe,” Steve announced, “man that girl can do things that can make your toes curl!”

“Bendy is she?” Eddy laughed as they walked towards their car together.

“Bendy doesn’t begin to…” suddenly all happiness left Steve’ face, “…I told her why I smoked.”

“Freaktown?” Eddy asked his own smile leaving his face.

“Yeah, Freaktown,” Steve nodded.

“How did the story end this time?” Eddy unlocked the car and opened the driver’s door.

“I told her he lived,” for a moment Steve was back in the desert with his dead friend at his feet, his blood soaking into the sand, “no need to ruin her day with the truth,” Steve sighed before changing the subject, “so what’ve we got?”

“School drive by,” Eddy explained as he got into the car, “one girl dead another in hospital…”

0=0=0=0

**The Oasis Apartments about a week later.**

Walking towards the motel clerk’s office, Zoe checked that she had the money for next week's rent in her pocket. Having taken Nick up on his offer of work, she was now doing three or four shifts a week down at the Demon Fire Club dancing and stripping. It wasn’t what she’d planned to do; she didn’t even really like having to do it. But it did bring in enough cash so she wasn’t haemorrhaging money just to keep a roof over her head. However, she wasn’t getting very much richer either, at best she was standing still, if she wanted more money she’d need to do more shifts and she wasn’t sure she wanted to do that.

The Demon Fire Club wasn’t so bad though, most of the other strippers and waitresses were cool, even the girls who dressed up as ‘demons’. It was odd but Zoe rarely saw any of these girls put on their make-up or anything. They always seemed to arrive at the club already made-up and go home at the end of the evening still in their costumes. A couple of the girls who dressed up had taken an instant dislike to her, Zoe didn’t know why; maybe they were just natural born bitches. Whatever, Zoe sighed as she arrived at the office; there were always some people who couldn’t deal with the hot, new girl.

“Hi, Sam,” Zoe called pleasantly to the clerk who was sitting behind his glass security screen.

“Oh, high Zoe,” Sam looked up from the girlie magazine he’d been looking at and smiled guiltily at her.

“Hey, what-cha reading?” Zoe asked with a grin.

“Oh nothing,” Sam tried to hide the magazine under a newspaper and began to change the subject, “you come to pay your rent?”

“Yeah,” Zoe laughed, “but ya not seeing one wooden fenig until I see that wank-mag.”

“Oh Zoe,” Sam sighed and slid the magazine under the glass partition to Zoe.

Picking up the magazine, Zoe flicked through the pages quickly, a lot of the pictures were way too ‘gynaecological’ for her tastes, but some of the models were pretty enough. Zoe had long suspected that she was bi-sexual.

“Some of them are hot, coz none of 'em is as hot as me,” Zoe smiled as she slid the magazine back to a now thoroughly embarrassed Sam, “but ya really oughta get out an' try the real thing.”

“You offering?” Sam asked with just a hint of hope in his voice.

“No,” Zoe replied without too much feeling, she didn’t want to slap the guy down too hard.

For the first time since she’d moved in, Zoe really looked at Sam. He was okay, she supposed, but by the look in his eyes he seemed terrified that she might say ‘yes’.

“Oh, come on Zoe,” Sam pleaded; Zoe couldn’t be sure whether he was sounding upset of thankful that she’d rejected him. “When am I ever going to get out and meet real, live girls? I’m always here.” 

“Yeah, my heart bleeds,” Zoe gave Sam a sympathetic look, “look you want this rent money or not?”

“Yeah sure,” Sam was just reaching for his receipt book when the phone rang, “hold on I gotta get this…”

“Okay,” Zoe shrugged and leaned against the counter top and looked around the office.

Like the rest of the Oasis it wasn’t really smart but it wasn’t shabby either, it was some where in that half world between up-market, family clean and down at heel. Her room was just the same, nothing fancy, comfortable enough and housekeeping did a good enough job of keeping it clean and there were fresh sheets every week and clean towels when she needed them. 

“Is that Steve out there?” Sam asked as he held onto the phone and a car pulled up outside.

“I’ll go check,” Zoe offered.

A few days ago, Steve had moved a Hillbilly chick and her kid into one of the motel’s rooms; he’d also started to spend quite a lot of time up there with them. It wasn’t as if Zoe was jealous exactly, after all Steve and her didn’t have a girl and boyfriend thing going on or anything like that. They were just friends who sometimes screwed, so why did she feel so let down every time she saw him with her? Stepping out of the office, Zoe saw Steve climb from his car and start to head towards the woman’s apartment.

“Hey, Steve!” Zoe called, “Sam’s gotta call for ya, ya wanna take it in ya room or in here?”

“Thanks,” Steve hesitated for a moment before turning back to walk over towards Zoe, “I’ll take it in the office.” Walking up to Zoe, Steve smiled, “Hey Zoe, I’ve not seen you around so much lately, what-cha-bin doin’?

“I’m working more regular now,” Zoe replied as if she didn’t care about seeing Steve one way or another.

“That’s good,” Steve nodded as Sam came out from behind his little glass fort and held out the receiver to him, “look I’ll catch up in a minute, I’ve gotta take this.”

Yeah right, Zoe thought, wants to catch up does he? Wants to get hot and heavy with that piece of Hill-trash he’s got stashed away up there more like. Zoe rolled her eyes in disgust; men, her mental rant continued, good for nothing, might as well get herself a toy or two from the sex shop down the street or-or screw Sam, see how Steve liked that… The look on Steve’ face brought Zoe’s mental turmoil to an abrupt halt; he looked worried, like dangerous worried.

“Sam,” Steve spoke urgently after putting down the phone, “you got a gun back there, shotgun, rifle anything?”

“Sure,” Sam backed away from the detective, “I’ve got a shotgun,” Sam held up the weapon, a standard twelve gauge pump.

“Cartridges?” Steve asked as he snatched the weapon from Sam’s hand.

“Here,” Sam pulled open a drawer and handed Steve a box of shells, Sam looked scared, very scared, “what’s going on?”

“Does that door lock from the inside?” Steve pointed to a storage room.

“Yeah,” Sam nodded even as he backed towards the door.

“Right, you go in there and lock the door from the inside,” Steve turned to look at Zoe, “you too Zoe…”

“No way man,” Zoe shook her head; first she didn’t like the idea of being locked in a small dark room with Sam, second she could feel danger in the air and she felt an urgent need to help.

“Don’t be stupid,” Steve snapped, “now get in there and…”

“Too late,” Zoe grinned, Sam had already disappeared into the room and locked the door, “ya stuck with me!”

“Okay,” Steve moved towards the office door as he slipped shells into the shotgun, “go to your room and lock yourself in, barricade the door and keep your head down.”

“Sure,” Zoe agreed, “but what the freakin' feck is goin’ on?”

“Trouble, that’s what’s going on,” Steve explained as they stepped out onto the dark, rain-slick parking lot, “Look,” for a moment Steve stopped to look into Zoe’s eyes, “back-up will be here soon, if you keep your head down you’ll be okay, okay?”

“Okay,” Zoe shrugged as Steve turned away and started running towards where the Hill-chick lived with her little girl; waiting a couple of seconds, Zoe trotted silently along behind Steve just as four dark coloured cars pulled into the parking lot.

Running up the stairs behind Steve to the upper level, Zoe glanced down into the parking lot to see ten or twelve guys climb out of the cars; she didn’t need to see the automatic weapons in their hands to know they were trouble. They sort of just radiated mean-ness. It was at about this moment that Steve stopped and Zoe nearly ran into him.

“What the feck!?” Steve demanded as he stared down at Zoe before his eyes flicked over to where the gangsters were spreading out to cover the apartments. “Get outta here!”

“Like where?” Zoe shrugged, “If I go down there…” she gestured towards the men with guns and left the possible consequences of her going ‘down there’ unspoken.

“Okay,” Steve pulled Zoe past him and pointed along the walkway that ran in front of the apartment doors, “go…”

Just as Steve was about to tell Zoe to go to the end room, go inside and take cover, the Hill-chick’s daughter came out to stand on the walkway to look fearfully up at Steve.

“Look after the girl,” Steve shoved Zoe towards the girl before starting to run in the direction from which they’d just come.

Sprinting along the walkway, Zoe heard Steve’ shotgun boom twice only to be answered by a burst of automatic fire from below. Hearing bullets crack above here head, Zoe scooped up the kid and carried her back into room not forgetting to slam the door shut behind her. Dropping the kid onto her feet, Zoe switched out the lights and carefully peeped outside. Again she heard Steve’ shotgun go off followed by a burst of automatic fire which in turn was followed by the sound of a window breaking. Looking down at the terrified kid, Zoe tried to work out what was going on and what she’d got herself into. Her eyes searched the room for something she could use as a weapon but she came up with nothing, only then did she see the police issue body armour lying on the table.

“Okay!” Zoe squatted down in front of the girl; she was about ten with shoulder length dark blonde hair and blue, tearful eyes, immediately Zoe felt an urge to protect her, “I’m Zoe, I’m a friend of Steve, who are you Honey?”

“Lara,” sniffed the girl.

“Where’s ya mom?” Zoe asked as she desperately tried to work out what to do; outside she could hear the booms of Steve’ shotgun being answered by more automatic fire, surely the cops would be here soon…wouldn’t they?

“She went out to buy ice cream,” replied Lara.

“Ice cream?” Zoe repeated as she thought that buying ice cream at this time of night was a little odd. “Whatever,” Zoe reached for the bullet proof vest and started to help Lara put it on, “you put this on, Lara…hey those guys out there…” Zoe held the girl as more firing split the night air, it seemed to be getting closer, “…are they after ya mom?”

“No,” Lara shook her head as she struggled into the too big body armour, “they after me.”

“No shit?” Zoe gasped, what could this little girl have done to have a load of gangsters with guns come after her? “Okay, Lara,” Zoe picked the kid up, “you hold on tight and Auntie Zoe'll get ya outta here.”

“Auntie Zoe?” Lara gave Zoe a quizzical look as she put her arms around Zoe’s neck.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Zoe shrugged, “maybe not Auntie…how 'bout, Big Sis Zoe?”

“Sure,” Lara agreed as she held on tightly to Zoe.

Outside the gunfire had stopped and Zoe could hear at least two sets of footsteps moving stealthily towards the room. Glancing at the door to check she’d locked it, Zoe started to move towards the back of the room and towards the bathroom. She’d not gone far when the door burst open and a big guy in a black leather jacket clutching a small submachine-gun in his beefy hands burst into the room. Zoe dived for the floor covering Lara with her body as the guy sprayed the room with a long burst of fire.

The firing stopped abruptly and the silence beat loudly on Zoe’s ears as she disentangled herself from the girl’s embrace. Taking her chance, Zoe slipped from Lara’s grasp and jumped to her feet to confront the gangster. The man was standing half in and half out of the room blocking the view for his buddy who was still outside on the walkway. Gangster number one was busy trying to reload his weapon as gangster number two began to push his way through the door.

Jumping across the room, Zoe smashed her fist into gangster number one’s face. He stumbled backwards in surprise and flipped over the safety rail to fall into the parking lot below. Gangster number two was now on the floor, having been knocked down my his confederate, but he’d managed to keep his wits about him and had fired at Zoe. A long muzzled flash reached for Zoe as the gangster’s bullets sort her out. But Zoe was nowhere to be found, she’d ducked back into the room and dropped to the floor. Lying there with bullets ripping through the thin walls and ceiling above her head, Zoe saw gangster one’s machine-gun lying on the floor next to her hand.

Reaching for the weapon, Zoe picked it up before crawling back across the floor towards the bathroom pausing once to fire a burst through the wall; she didn’t think she’d hit anything but it seemed to keep gangster number two from following her into the room. Leopard crawling swiftly across the floor, Zoe almost panicked when she couldn’t find Lara. Throwing herself into the bathroom she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the girl hiding in the bath.

“Hold on kid,” Zoe called breathlessly as she looked for an escape route.

The only way out appeared to be the window. Knowing that she only had seconds to get the kid to safety, Zoe pushed open the window and looked outside. It looked too far to jump, but there was a drain pipe that appeared sturdy enough to carry her and Lara’s weight.

“Lara, look at me,” Zoe spoke rapidly, “look, I’m going to climb out the window then I want ya to climb out and get on my back, can ya do that?”

Lara nodded bravely.

“Cool,” Zoe tried a reassuring smile before climbing out the window and taking hold of the drainpipe, “okay, Lara come on out.”

Hesitantly the girl climbed out the bathroom window and then reached for Zoe’s hand. Taking hold of Lara’s arm, Zoe easily swung her up onto her back where she held on like a baby monkey to its mother’s back. Swiftly climbing the drainpipe towards the roof, Zoe wondered again at her strength; she knew that she was stronger than most women, but Lara felt like no weight at all, allowing her to climb effortlessly up the drain. Perhaps the fact that she was terrified out of her mind was making her stronger than normal.

“Hold on tight, Honey,” Zoe whispered as she came to the top of the drainpipe and climbed onto the flat roof; damn-it, thought Zoe, where to now?

Running along the roof towards the other end of the building, Zoe had some vague idea about climbing down and making her way off into the dark and turning herself and the kid over to the first cops she could find. However, this plan lasted about five paces as a head appeared over the far edge of the roof, the head was rapidly followed by a hand and an arm, the hand was clutching a machine-gun.

“CRAP!” Zoe skidded to a halt and started to back pedal as bullets snapped angrily about her ears. It was only as Lara’s high pitched scream cut its way like a knife through her consciousness that Zoe remembered she had a gun too. Taking the weapon that hung from its strap around her neck, she fired. The wild spray of bullets caught the gangster squarely in the face and Zoe watched wide eyed as his head exploded. Unfortunately her feelings of triumph were brought up short as the gun stopped working, she'd run out of bullets.

What now? Was Zoe’s next thought as she ran back towards the drainpipe. Once again the gangsters didn’t give her any time to think; bullets whipped through the roof from the room below. Dodging the bullets while trying to guess where the next burst would come from, Zoe found she was rapidly running out of space and options. Standing on the edge of the roof, Zoe saw another head appear at the far end of the building, more bullets smashed through the roof at her feet and it looked like the only way out of this mess was for her to jump. Looking at the sidewalk below, Zoe gauged the distance, it looked jumpable if she didn’t mind breaking at least one leg. But a broken leg was better than being dead, right? Plus the kid would live, okay, Zoe told herself, the only way is down.

“Jump down Honey,” Zoe told Lara as calmly as she could, she knelt down and took the girl in her arms, “look we’re gonna jump down into the street, okay, now hold on tight to big Sis!”

Clinging on to the girl as Lara wrapped her legs around Zoe’s waist and her arms around her neck, Zoe stood up and stepped off the roof. Bending her knees, Zoe soaked up the impact of landing and stood for a moment amazed at not lying on the ground in agony because she’d broken a leg. After a moment more like this she got her head back into the game and set Lara down on her feet and took hold of the child’s hand.

“Come on lets run!” Zoe started to pull the child along the sidewalk; the sound of firing was still coming from the motel and she thought it wise to get as far away from the place as she could.

The sound of a car’s engine came to Zoe’s ears as she and Lara trotted down the street, turning her head she saw a silver saloon drive up and stop next to her.

“Crap!” Zoe cursed quietly, as she picked Lara up again and prepared to sprint as far and as fast as she could; a man with short fair hair climbed out of the car and came towards her gun in hand.

“Get into the car!” the man ordered urgently.

“Eddy!” Lara cried happily and Zoe realised it was Steve’ partner coming towards her not another gangster.

Rushing towards the car Zoe put Lara in the back seat and told her to get down on the floor before shutting the door.

“You better take cover too,” Eddy called to Zoe as he started to move quickly towards the motel.

“No way!” Zoe called as she trotted behind Eddy, “Steve is still in there.”

“Okay,” Eddy had obviously decided he’d not got the time to argue with Zoe, “It’s Zoe right?” Zoe nodded in the affirmative, “Stay behind me and don’t get in the way, now, how many of them are there?”

“At least twelve,” Zoe replied shortly, “but me an' Steve musta got maybe half of ‘em by now.”

It appeared that Zoe’s estimate of gangster casualties was actually an underestimate because when they drew level with the parking lot it was deserted and ominously quiet.

“Where was Steve?” Eddy asked as they took cover behind a car.

“Last I saw, he was up there,” Zoe pointed to the walkway on the upper level; there were a couple of bodies along with other signs of violence like smashed in doors and broken windows. “I took out a couple on my own,” Zoe pointed out, “I won’t get into trouble for that, will I?”

“Under the circumstances, no,” Eddy replied as he turned and gave Zoe a quick grin, “Look I’m going to find Steve, you stay here.”

“W-what!?” before Zoe had a chance to say anything else, Eddy was up and running across the parking lot towards the motel.

Watching him run, Zoe’s eye was drawn by movement to her right. Her sharp eyes easily picked out the shape of a man coming out from behind a car, weapon in hand. Getting up from her hiding place, Zoe started to move rapidly, closing the distance between herself and the gangster. The hitman raised his short rifle-like weapon and took aim at Eddy’s back. Acting solely on instinct, Zoe sprinted towards the man on silent feet; body checking him she knocked him to the ground. The weapon flew from the gangster’s hands as he fell to the ground with Zoe on top of him. The rifle clattered across the tarmac as Zoe found her feet and grabbed the gangster by the collar of his jacket. Surprising herself and the hitman with her strength, she hauled him to his feet so she could knock him down again with a well aimed blow to the head.

“OWWW!” Zoe wailed as her fist came in contact with the gangster’s hard skull.

However, of the two of them the hitman was in worse condition after Zoe had punched him; she must have rattled his brain about inside his head because he went limp as his eyes closed and blood dripped from his nose. “SHEESH!” Zoe let go of the gangster and tried to shake some feeling back into her hand, “That freakin' hurt!”

The sound of a single gunshot made Zoe forget all about her throbbing hand, she seemed to be able to judge exactly were the shot had come from and she looked up at the rooms on the upper level. She could see Eddy working his way along the line of doors, checking each one as he passed it. A door, one or two doors down from Eddy opened to reveal Steve as he led the Hill-chick out into the night air. 

In that second Zoe knew it was all over. The gangsters had been defeated, the kid and her mom were safe and her ‘benefits’ with Steve were over; he’d not want her around anymore. Any fool could see that there was something between Lara’s mom and Steve, he’d not want his life complicated by a stripper hanging around. Okay maybe they could still be buddies, share a cup of coffee or a beer every now and then but anything else, well that was over. Perhaps, Zoe thought as she stepped aside to let a police patrol car come to a halt next to her, it would be best if she left the Oasis and moved on, maybe now she was earning good money dancing she could get a small place of her own.

0=0=0=0

**Later.**

The motel was alive with cops and paramedics as the wreckage and bodies from the gun battle were cleared up. Patiently letting a medic examine her hand, Zoe watched as Steve walked over to where she was sitting in the back of the ambulance.

“Can I talk to her?” Steve asked the paramedic.

“Yeah,” the medic climbed down from the ambulance before turning to face Zoe, “You were lucky this time, only bruises and a few minor cuts. But in future don’t punch hitmen in the head; you’re lucky you didn’t break every bone in your hand.”

“I’ll try an' remember that,” Zoe nodded to the medic.

“You okay, Zoe?” Steve asked as he climbed into the ambulance and sat down tiredly.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Zoe admitted; she did in fact feel fine, also a little hungry and horny both of which she’d have to deal with herself because it looked like Steve wasn’t going to be available, “What’s goin’ on Steve?” she gestured to the aftermath of battle, “I mean what’s with the rerun of the Unification War an’all?”

“Oh that?” something of the old Steve came back and had replaced the drained Steve for a moment. “Lara witnessed one of these gangster freaks murder someone in her mom’s restaurant, she was the only one willing to say she’d seen anything.”

Zoe looked over to where Lara and her mom sat surrounded by medics and police on the stairs leading up to the apartment’s top floor.

“Sheesh,” Zoe breathed quietly, “brave kid.”

“Yeah, we tried to fool the gangers into thinking they were both dead which was why they were here,” Steve shrugged, “didn’t work coz they found out that Lara wasn’t dead, so they came after her here.”

“Good plan,” Zoe shrugged, she didn’t know what else to say.

“Thanks Zoe,” Steve said as he looked at his hands, “you were a big help looking out for Lara there.” Steve paused for a second or two, “But next time…”

“There’s gonna be a next time?” Zoe asked incredulously.

“No,” Steve chuckled before adding, “least I hope not. Look next time,” he was serious again, “do like I tell you and stay in your room, I’ve lost enough friends for one life time.”

“What ya mean?” Zoe wanted to know.

“This is the anniversary of me getting my man ‘Freaktown’ killed,” Steve explained.

“Oh,” Zoe replied quietly as realisation dawned, “Hey, Freaktown that was…that sniper’s bullet didn’t just part his hair did it?”

“No,” Steve shook his head and he wouldn’t look at Zoe directly, “I told him I’d get him through it all and I let him down, now he’s dead.”

“Asshole,” Zoe said after a couple of moments thought.

“You what!?” Steve was looking at her in shock.

“You,” Zoe jabbed Steve’ shoulder with a finger, “you’re an asshole if ya think ya let anyone down or got anyone killed,” Steve started to say something but Zoe didn’t give him a chance, “did ya run away?” Steve shook his head, “Did ya hide behind him so you couldn’t be hit? Did ya do everything ya could to look out for this guy?”

“Yeah but…” once again Steve found Zoe wouldn’t let him speak.

“Okay then, news flash!” Zoe jabbed Steve with an iron hard finger making him wince, “there was a war on, guys die in wars. I know you Steve; I bet you did everything you could to help out but sounds like Freaktown’s time was up.” Zoe spoke her next words softly, “ya good but ya not that good, y’know?”

“But…” Steve s tried to speak again.

“But nothin’,” Zoe snorted a laugh, “now get outta here an’ go see ya new lady, she needs ya more than I do…now get.”

Patting her on the shoulder, Steve climbed down from the ambulance as Zoe watched him go. The truth was she did need him, just a little, for a night maybe and then… And then it would be back to the old Zoe who didn’t need anyone however much she might tell herself different. People tied you down, get a regular guy and the next thing you knew he wanted you to move in or marry you or some such crap. No, that wasn’t for Zoe Smith not now; perhaps later when she was older.

Standing up with a groan, Zoe climbed down from the ambulance and started to make her way slowly and painfully towards her room. Realising that she probably looked as if she’d had the crap beaten out of her, Zoe resolved to call the Hellfire Club and tell them she wouldn’t be in for a couple of days. That was the problem with stripping; it made it very hard to hide any bruises. Climbing up the stairs to her room, Zoe let herself in and closed the door behind her. Pulling off her clothes she left them in a trail behind her as she headed for the shower. A nice hot shower while she got rid of the annoying hot, itchy feeling between her legs, something to eat and a night’s sleep and she’d be fine.

0=0=0=0

The following morning Zoe slept late. Getting up she dressed in clean clothes and tidied up her clothes from the day before and then considered going to the laundromat. Dismissing the idea for another day, she called the Hellfire Club and told them she’d not be coming in for a day or two. Having looked at herself in the mirror earlier, Zoe’d been surprised to find that all but the biggest of her bruises had vanished. However, that still left a cut lip and a couple of real big bruises on her ribs, she’d no idea how she’d got them and her hand looked like she’d been beating on it with a hammer.

Leaving her room, Zoe saw there were still a few cops hanging about; she couldn’t help wondering where they’d all been last night when they’d been needed. Running down the steps to the parking lot, Zoe felt the roll of banknotes in the pocket of her jacket, she hadn’t paid Sam for next month's rent. Heck, she shrugged, he could wait until later for the money. As she walked out onto the street, she smiled and wondered if Sam had come out of the store room yet.

0=0=0=0

After eating a large breakfast in the diner she usually used, Zoe paused to read the local newspaper. She was in no rush today, she wasn’t working tonight so she had nothing to do and all day to do it in. Turning to the jobs pages, she quickly scanned the ads. Nothing caught her eye; you either needed to have a college degree or the jobs didn’t pay anywhere near what she earned stripping. One add did catch her eye however. It was an advert for a club not too far away for a ‘hostesses’. Pulling a face at the idea of being a hostess, that usually meant code for ‘hooker’, Zoe almost closed the paper, however she hesitated and looked again. The wages being offered didn’t look too bad and it might be an idea to check it out just in case; perhaps she could cut back on the stripping a little if it worked out.

0=0=0=0

Arriving outside the club early in the afternoon, Zoe looked up at the sign above the door; *Salve!*, it read.

“What the heck is ‘Salve’?” Zoe asked herself but got no answer.

Stepping through the door, Zoe found herself facing a big, muscular guy, obviously the doorman.

“We’re closed,” the doorman rumbled.

“I’ve come about the hostess job?” Zoe pointed out, “The ad said I should ask for someone called Leon?”

“Oh yeah,” the doorman smiled pleasantly, “the Boss, he’s down stairs in the club, you go right on in sweet-cheeks.”

“Thanks,” Zoe smiled back at the guy and headed on into the club.

Taking the long flight of stairs that led down to the basement where the club was situated, Zoe noted the almost complete lack of ‘sleaze’. From her experience of these kinds of places they all gave off a smell of vice and despair and sometimes bad drains. This 'Salve' place didn’t give off anything like that, but it did make the skin between her shoulder blades itch so much that she stopped on the stairs to make sure she wasn’t being followed.

Satisfied there wasn’t anyone about to attack her, Zoe dismissed the feeling and carried on down the steps into the club proper. Stopping to look around, she saw fairly standard tables and chairs, a small stage with a microphone and what looked like a karaoke machine set up on it. Zoe smiled, so not a strip joint, unless the girls were supposed to sing while they took their clothes off, in which case she might as well leave now. Turning to her left a little she saw a well stocked bar and a tall, handsome looking barman.

“Leon?” Zoe smiled and wished she’d worn a more revealing top.

“Come about the hostess job?” the barman wanted to know, Zoe nodded, “I’ll find him for you.”

The barman disappeared behind a curtain to one side of the bar leaving Zoe to look around. The bar (not a club she’d decided) was clean, smelt okay and didn’t look the sort of place she’d have to take her clothes off or even screw someone to get a decent tip. Hearing a footfall behind her Zoe turned to find the bar’s owner standing not three feet away. The guy was slim and a little over average height. He wore a dark red suit, a yellow silk shirt and a green tie that made her eyes water just a little. But what really caught Zoe’s eyes was the guy’s green skin and red eyes and just for a moment she thought that a Crystal addict had got into the place.

“What is wrong with people in this freaking town?” Zoe asked, angry at being scared like that, and realising she’d walked into yet another ‘monster’ themed bar.

Turning on her heel, Zoe stormed out of the bar, up the steps and out onto the street again. After walking quickly along the side walk for fifty yards or so, she slowed to a halt and turned back to look at the door to the bar. For a moment she considered going back and saying ‘sorry’. They probably wouldn’t employ her now, but going back and apologising would be the right thing to do. Never-the-less, she dismissed this thought as a bad idea and continued on her way; just what was she supposed do with her life?

Zoe neither wanted to, or could go on stripping for the rest of her life; she really didn’t like doing it and somewhere at the back of her mind was the knowledge that eventually she’d start screwing guys for money. That was a place she didn’t want to go, so she needed to find a way out of her life, maybe leave Oldport completely, go somewhere else where she could…could what? All she seemed to be good at was taking her clothes off for a bunch of losers…and maybe fighting. Nodding to herself, Zoe had to admit that it'd felt pretty good kicking those gangster’s asses. In those few minutes she’d felt more alive than she had since she’d come to Oldport. Maybe she could combine her only two skills into…

It was then that she found herself outside an army recruiting office; she stopped and looked at the display in the window. ‘Be the best you can be,’ read the poster, ‘join the professionals’. There were pictures of fit, square jawed guys in camouflaged uniforms clutching rifles, or sitting on top of armoured vehicles. But what made her look harder were the pictures of girls with guns dressed just like the guys doing more or less the same things the guys were doing.

“Cool,” Zoe breathed as she drifted closer to the window, this could be just what she was looking for and she wouldn’t have to take her clothes off for anyone if she didn’t want to.

Before she knew what she was doing, Zoe had opened the door and had gone inside. Walking up to the guy sitting behind a desk, Zoe smiled as she read the rank on his collar (Steve had been a Staff Sergeant and the man on the desk wore the exact, same insignia).

“Mornin’, Staff Sergeant,” Zoe felt her heart begin to pound as the enormity of what she was about to do suddenly hit her, “I wanna join the army.”

“You do, do you, Ms…?” the soldier looked up at Zoe and gestured for her to take a seat.

“Smith,” Zoe smiled as she sat down, “Zoe Smith.”

THE END.

Zoe's further adventures will be continued in 'The Recruit'.


End file.
